Deleted posts urging violence haunt Democratic Senate hopeful in Maine race

In a separate post, he argued that if people "expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history."

And in another post, he said "an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice."

"I made dumb jokes and picked fights. But of course I'm not a socialist. I'm a small business owner, a Marine Corps veteran, and a retired s***poster," the 41-year-old Platner added.

This year's statewide races in Virginia have been rocked after the National Review first reported on three-year-old texts by Democratic Attorney General nominee Jay Jones, in which he compared then-State House Speaker Todd Gilbert to mass murderers Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, adding that if he was given two bullets, he would use both against the GOP lawmaker to shoot him in the head.

And reporting this week by Politico of racist, antisemitic, and violent online messages by Young Republicans groups triggered resignations.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the political arm of the Senate GOP, took aim at Platner.

"Graham Platner is a communist who supports violence against Republicans to promote his radical agenda. These posts are not just him messing around on the internet as he is trying to claim, they paint a very dark picture of a candidate not fit for office," NRSC Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell charged in a statement.

Platner, who is backed by progressive champion and two-time Democratic presidential nomination runner-up Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, has been drawing large crowds as he campaigns across blue-leaning Maine. 

In another sign of the Afghanistan and Iraq War veteran and political newcomer's momentum, Platner hauled in over $3 million in fundraising during the first six weeks after declaring his candidacy.

Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, views the 77-year-old Mills as the best candidate to defeat Collins, who is the only Republican senator up for re-election next year in a state the Democrats carried in the presidential election. A Collins defeat would be essential for the Democrats to have any chance of winning back the Senate majority in next year's midterm elections.

Also running for the Democratic nomination is former congressional staffer Jordan Wood, who raked in roughly $3 million during the July-September third quarter of fundraising.

But Dan Kleban, a co-founder of the Maine Beer Company who was a Senate candidate, ended his campaign and backed Mills after the governor entered the race.

The 72-year-old Collins, a moderate Republican, first won election to the Senate in 1996. She currently chairs the influential Senate Appropriations Committee.

Collins won comfortable double-digit re-elections in 2002, 2008, and 2014.

In her 2020 re-election, Collins faced off against Democratic State House Speaker Sara Gideon, in a hotly contested race that became the most expensive in Maine history. While polls indicated Collins trailing her Democratic challenger, she ended up winning the election by more than eight points.

Fox News Digital reached out to Platner's campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.